It seems a tad strange that when Zach Friend joins the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, he will be the new guy.

Friend already has a deep political resume. He worked for President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, and spent six years chairing the Democratic Central Committee of Santa Cruz County. He projects a measure of savvy often found in more veteran politicos.

Friend teams with the board's other new member, former Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, to add both experience and connections to the board. He succeeds Ellen Pirie in the county's 2nd District, having won the race handily in June with backing from across the county's Democratic establishment.

"For the last six months, I've spent time meeting with community groups, all the department heads at the county, toured all the facilities and spent a significant amount of time focusing on the budget," Friend said recently. "I recognize there is a steep learning curve and that I need to be doing a lot more listening than providing of information for a little while."

A native of San Diego, Friend is married to Santa Cruz Assistant City Manager Tina Shull. The two live in Capitola and have no children.

Friend moved to Santa Cruz to attend UCSC, where he graduated with a bachelor's in history. He earned a graduate degree in public policy from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

A policy wonk, he has worked for Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, and former Iowa Sen. Tom Daschle. He was summoned to Pennsylvania during Obama's upstart 2008 campaign -- Obama's operation was partly built using Daschle personnel -- where he worked as a campaign spokesman in a crucial swing state.

Until recently Friend worked as a civilian crime analyst for the Santa Cruz Police Department, where he was also department spokesman. He was also an advocate for the department's "predictive policing program," which garnered national attention.

He has also kept up with other interests, such as periodic appearances at Planet Cruz Comedy Hour, where he does bits on inept criminals. Before and after his election, he kept a Huffington Post column, offering Democratic takes on politics.

Friend was sworn in last week in a private ceremony in front of his family. Heading into his first meeting on Tuesday, he said supervisors play a dual role, advocating for constituents' immediate needs, but also taking a longer view on issues.

"[T]he decisions you make are decisions that impact your constituents and your community for years to come," Friend said. "It's easy to focus on what's urgent as opposed to what's important. They're not always the same thing."

Many of the issues Friend speaks of are the same issues predecessor Pirie did when she came into office a dozen years ago: smart growth and transportation. He is expected to be relatively moderate, part of what appears to be a continued swing toward the center for county political leadership.

"It's been very cordial and very welcoming," Friend said of the board. "Everybody's been offering advice and support. I think it's going to be a strong working board."

And asked whether this was the beginning of what he hoped would be a long career in politics, Friend demurred.